Death should be credited with creating death metal, at least the old school style we recognize now, as they birthed the infamous Tampa, Florida sound. Bands such as Autopsy and Obituary—two of the forerunners—would not exist without Death. Death is not the true father of death metal, though. That distinction goes to Possessed. The California Bay Area group not only played a style of brutal, vicious metal, with loads of Satanic imagery, they also coined the term “death metal” on the “Seven Churches” album.

Around 1985, albums similar to “Slowly We Rot” (Obituary) and “Mental Funeral” (Autopsy) simply did not exist. Thrash was the fasted, craziest music around. Of course Possessed has already been mentioned, but the influence of Slayer, who obviously influenced Possessed, can not be under recognized. Where Possessed was different was they used a rougher production. Dark Angel, whose drummer, Gene Hoglan, would go on to be one of the most heralded drummers in the metal biz, certainly showed a good dose of Slayer in their sound. In the beginning, Slayer was nothing more than a faster, nefarious, more solo-oriented Venom protégé. More...

Two weeks back we asked a simple question: why isn't there more heavy metal in the video game world?

Our Facebook page blew up with gamers offering up their favorite titles with metallic soundtracks, and we took a closer look at several worth your time. In that post still available here if you didn't read it, we looked at the king of heavy metal video games – Brutal Legend – as well as Saint's Row The Third, Killing Floor 2, Painkiller, and Guilty Gear X2 Reload.

After that post went online, Zynthetic – responsible for much of the music in Killing Floor and Killing Floor 2 – wrote up an article attempting to answer the question of why more metal doesn't show up in video games since they seem like a perfect and obvious match.

For his take on the lack of metal in gaming, including the difficulties in licensing existing music and the lack of metallic knowledge among composers, read the full article right here.

Since we love gaming and we love metal, it seemed like a good idea to keep checking in every so often with new entries that combine the two, and this week we'll cover four more solid games filled to the brim with extreme metal. Don't see your favorite game listed? Don't worry, we'll cover more in the future, but be sure to still give us your picks in the comments below.

Splatterhouse

Five years ago a reboot of the '88 arcade game Splatterhouse hit consoles, and it was very much notable for the inclusion of an all-metal soundtrack featuring the likes of Lamb of God, Mastodon, Municipal Waste, Cavalera Conspiracy, and Goatwhore.

As the name would suggest, it's filled with buckets of blood and guts, and the action-oriented beat 'em up style is somewhat similar to Dante's Inferno/God Of war/etc. The frantic combat will see your character Rick frequently losing limbs and more, but that's not a problem because they grow back – and hey, you can pick up the severed appendages of your foes to continue beating them down!

This one's filled to the brim with all sorts of horror goodies (and ridiculousness) like time travel, cosmic horror deities, and plenty of nods to Lovecraft with names like “Dr. West” and places called “Arkham.” Someone helpfully put all the songs from the soundtrack together into one playlist at YouTube here, and you can check out a game trailer below:

Portuguese Gothic metal band Moonspell has issued the following statement about the 10th anniversary of the passing of metal legend Quorthon:

"Ten years and one day have passed since Quorthon left us and headed to Valhalla but his legacy lives through, in the shape of the many fans and enthusiasts whom followed his footsteps with their bands and projects.

"Moonspell is one of them and we would like to pay just a modest tribute by hailing Quorthon and his memory, not only in many of our songs and lyrics but also in the way he dealt with his fans.

"Fernando and many of the original members of Moonspell to be (Morbid God) were there and you can spot him/them at 4.29 (Fernando is on a Sodom shirt, mullet hair eheh) but according to him, this was maybe the happiest day of his life.

"The week after Moonspell was born. Enjoy and never forget Quorthon on his way up high!"

"We have been taking part in contest for possibility to play biggest Scandinavian rock / metal festival Sweden Rock. Out of 1500 band applications Skyforger is now been voted into final round of Top 20. Out of these 20 bands - only 3 bands gets to play!

"Please go to this link and make your support click for Skyforger. You can do one vote every day per every available to You computer's IP address until next Monday, 23 January. Make as many votes as possible, please!

"Skyforger right now is working in studio completing track 'The Woodwoman' from 'Blood On Ice' album for soon to be released Bathory tribute double CD via English label Godreah Records. More information at this location."

Old Corpse Road has issued the following announcement about recording a Bathory cover track for an upcoming tribute album:

"We have chosen to cover the song 'Equimanthorn' from the classic Bathory album 'Under the Sign of the Black Mark.' The track is currently being recorded alongside our debut album, and will feature on a new Bathory tribute album 'Voices from Valhalla' due out via Godreah Records this year. Check out the original classic here."

A special career spanning retrospective box set of Swedish black/viking metal pioneers Bathory will be released on July 18th through PlaticHead.com, in honour of the band's founder Quorthon, who passed away on June 3rd 2004. The set will only be released on vinyl and will include the following items:

Watain recently announced the release date of their upcoming album, "Lawless Darkness."

"The title symbolizes the unbound chaotic potential of that which is void of light", frontman E. comments. "The light that defines, the light that shapes and restricts. The light by which the forces of law and order uphold their reign. In the absence of that light lies the wellspring of WATAIN: in Lawless Darkness.

"With this album and in all of our efforts with WATAIN we aim to capture the hungry madness and glimmering purity of darkness beyond illusion, the void that holds all yet where naught is manifest, the primordial tomb into which all the vanity of man and his creation shall collapse: indeed, The Lawless Darkness!

"Lawless Darkness shall be seen as a monument erected in honour of that collapse and a dedication to all those brave souls, who have willingly dared to venture the winding paths towards it."

"Shed not thy light on meGet thee hence, thoughts definedBlind me not with your bright structuresFor I am of the night

"Let not thy rays caress meJudged by them I will not beFor they are the light that governs manAnd I am the enemy"

In other news, WATAIN will return to the United States once again in late May as part of the annual aural offensive known as the Maryland Deathfest, appearing with Sodom, Obituary, Entombed, Possessed, Necrophobic and countless more.

And, after completing the regular portion of their set at this year's Sweden Rock Festival in on June 12th, WATAIN will return to the stage for a unique 45-minute tribute concert featuring classic Bathory songs. The event promises to be even more special as the Bathory part of WATAIN's performance will be introduced by none other than late Bathory mainman Quorthon's father and producer, Börje "Boss" Forsberg. "It feels great to have Boss participating in a part of the show, since he, in a way, is the only living link to the Bathory myth," says E. "It will still be a tribute show and nothing else, but we are, of course, honored to be able to do it with his blessing!"

In previous Sunday Old School articles, we have looked at three of the bands that really helped to inspire and form the genre of black metal, in the forms of Venom, Celtic Frost and Mercyful Fate. However there is another band just as important in the formation of black metal that we are yet to examine. Namely, Sweden's Bathory. The band was formed in the city of Stockholm in 1983 by Tomas Forsberg, better known to his fans as Quorthon, and two friends. They went through a number of name changes before settling on Bathory and released their self-titled debut album the following year. This album, along with "The Return" and "Under The Sign Of The Black Mark" are now regarded as huge influences on the infamous Norwegian black metal scene's music in the 1990s.

Bathory not only helped to pioneer black metal, but also viking metal too, when they began incorporating viking themes on their next album, "Blood Fire Death." The group went further with this styling on their record, "Hammerheart," now regarded as a landmark in the field of viking metal. They would continue the "Hammerheart" style on their next two albums, "Twilight Of The Gods" and "Blood On Ice" before changing their sound once again, this time sounding more like thrash metal. This move was criticized by many of the band's fans and they returned to the viking approach on their last albums. Sadly, the band would not be able to continue, as in June of 2004, Quorthon (now the band's sole original member) was found dead in his home from an apparant heart failure. The legacy of Bathory has since been remembered with a box set released in 2006 and several tribute albums. More...

Swedish metallers Ereb Altor have posted a video clip online of their performance of the Bathory cover "Home of Once Brave." The video clip, which can be viewed below, was recorded at the Dutch Doom Days 2009 festival.

"The Lost and Damned," the first expansion pack for Rockstar Games' hugely successful video game, Grand Theft Auto IV, is out now on Xbox 360. Aside from the new missions and characters, one of the biggest features of the expansion pack is the addition of all-new radio shows - with one aimed squarely at metalheads.

The game's LCHC (Liberty City Hardcore) radio station now features a new show hosted by MAX CAVALERA of SEPULTURA/SOULFLY fame, which includes a slew of timeless metal favourites such as Earache Records legends AT THE GATES, ENTOMBED and TERRORIZER - providing the perfect soundtrack for hitting the streets of Liberty City.

For more information on "Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned" and to see the full list of new music included in

Former Sepultura frontman and current leader of Soulfly Max Cavalera will appear as the host of the L.C.H.C. (Liberty City Hardcore) radio station in the new video game, "Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost And Damned" Rockstar Games revealed today. The radio station will include some more metal songs this time around, including "I Cum Blood" by Cannibal Corpse, Bathory's "Call From The Grave", Entombed's "Drowned" and "Fear Of Napalm" by Terrorizer. The Classic Rock station will also be updated to include "Wild Side" by Motley Crue and "Wheels Of Steel" by Saxon amongst others. You can check out a sample of the new stations and DJ by heading to the games official website.

A new book dealing with the Swedish Death Metal scene around 1990 called "Encyclopedia Of Svensk Dödsmetall" (Encyclopedia of Swedish Death Metal) is currently being printed and about to be released in the next couple of weeks, according to author Nicola Costantini. He began to work on this book in the end of 2005 and it deals with a wide range of known and unknown Swedísh death metal acts between 1988-1992. The book will feature plenty of interviews with important names of the scene from bands such as At The Gates, Bathory, and Vomitory. The book is professionally printed on 218 black and white A4 pages and captures the true oldschool fanzine-spirit with cut & paste layout and will sell for 40 €. For additional information check out the book's MySpace page.

Germany's "doom metal kings" MIRROR OF DECEPTION have issued the following update:

"We've just finished recording three new songs (including a BATHORY cover song) with Mr. Michelle Darkness (END OF GREEN) at the mixing board for yet another split release. This time it will be split LP with Finnish doomsters GARDEN OF WORM and it will be released on The Church Within Records in the not-too-distant future."

MIRROR OF DECEPTION's third album, "Shards", was released in October 2006 via Cyclone Empire.

Black Mark will reissue all 12 studio albums from Swedish black metal pionneers BATHORY on limited-edition picture vinyl. All discs will be "hard-covered by a collection sleeve" and will be made available on November 19. The LPs being reissued are as follows:

Released in June 2006 via Black Mark, "In Memory of Quorthon" contains three CDs, one DVD, a book and a poster. Börje "Boss" Forsberg — owner of Black Mark Records and father of late BATHORY mainman Thomas "Quorthon" Forsberg — had previously stated that the package would contain "Quorthon's and BATHORY's complete musical history."

Quorthon was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm, Sweden on June 7, 2004. The 39-year-old, widely considered to be one of black metal's founding fathers, reportedly died of heart failure.

In early September, Debemur Morti Productions will release a split 7" EP featuring one track each from Finnish horde HORNA and French act PESTE NOIRE. Furthermore, a mini-CD, titled "Pimeyden Hehku", containing the very latest HORNA recordings, will also be made available. Both these releases will first be attainable on the imminent HORNA tour across Europe.

Here are the tour dates for the Pest Pandemic Contamination Over Europe 2007 tour featuring HORNA, BLACKLODGE and VORKREIST:

Last but not least, HORNA, who released two splits and a full-length in 2006, continue their amazing bout of productivity with the release of "Sotahuuto," on Grievantee. This album is a tribute to BATHORY and was written in 2004, only months before Quorthon's demise.

Norwegian black metal band TREMOR has uploaded rough mixes of two BATHORY covers, "Satan My Master" and "Witchcraft", recorded for an upcoming vinyl EP. The songs are available for streaming on TREMOR's MySpace page.

In other news, TREMOR is currently in Kamfer Studio working on its second album with the working title of "Le Matinée de Enfer". The track listing will be as follows:

01. Cunning; Just Like Lucifer02. The Antithesis of God03. Pro Indulgence/ Con Abstention04. Amor Fati; Let that be My Love Henceforth!05. Sanguinary, Insatiate and Deteriorated06. Mixed Opinions and Maxims07. Metaphysical Faith; Your God Remains Dead!08. Digtets Aand09. Norge10. A moment of Pure Catharsis11. The Conqueror Worm12. Every Word is a Prejudice13. A Liberating Will to Succeed14. And Revile the Whole; It's Vengeance!

Rare video footage from the DVD that accompanied BATHORY's career-spanning box set, "In Memory of Quorthon", has been posted online at YouTube.com.

Released this past June via Black Mark Records, "In Memory of Quorthon" contains three CDs, one DVD, a book and a poster. BÃ¶rje "Boss" Forsberg — owner of Black Mark Records and father of late BATHORY mainman Thomas "Quorthon" Forsberg — had previously stated that the package would contain "Quorthon's and BATHORY's complete musical history."

Quorthon was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm, Sweden on June 7, 2004. The 39-year-old, widely considered to be one of black metal's founding fathers, reportedly died of heart failure.